Actual title: TO THE BITTER BETTER YOU :)
Uso ngayon ang pagiging bitter. Halos lahat na daw kasi, nasaktan, kaya naging ganun... BITTER.
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| (Image from spiritofdreams101.deviantart.com) |
Hindi lang sa mga nagkaroon na ng special someone ang mga bitter, minsan.. Basta nadaya, basta naoffend ng kahit sino, mapa kaibigan, classmate, or even kapamilya.. Ayun na. Simula na ang ampalaya manner! Teka... Bakit nga ba kasi may mga bitter? Bakit hindi natin makalimutan ang mga masakit na bagay na nasabi o nagawa sa atin? We tend to be unforgiving, at dahil dito, the pain and hate never leaves us at all.
Sa panahon ngayon, hinding hindi natin maiiwasan ang maoffend. Lahat naman siguro tayo, naoffend na di'ba? Especially pa kung closest friend mo yan, masasaktan at masasaktan ka niya. It is true that the people who will more likely to hurt us are the ones who are closest to our hearts. Minsan yung hindi ka lang sinama sa lakad, minsan may masasabi sa'yo na hindi mo magugustuhan, o minsan kahit yung simpleng nakalimutan kang kamustahin, maiinis ka na. Pero nasa saiyo kung palalakihin mo ito, o magpapatawad at magmmove-on ka nalang.
Isinulat ang post na ito para matulungan ang mga tao na nahihirapang magpatawad. If alam mo na isa ka sa mga yun, keep reading. Because you need to know what to do with that pain, at alam ko mabigat na para saiyo.
For starters, unforgiveness and bitterness are NOT from God! These two will leave you miserable, stuck, and hurting in the corner. Papasanin mo sila hanggang hukay, unless di mo sila aalisin sa likod mo. Dahil kung sila lang, hinding hindi sila aalis sa tabi mo.
Anyway, today I want to share to you guys ang isang Parable in relation to the topic: Forgiveness.
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?"
Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven". Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants. When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But because he couldn't pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!' The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
"But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'
"So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you!' He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told to their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him in, and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?' His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds."
— Matthew 18:21-35, World English Bible
Note:
- Greek ten thousand talents; a talent was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wages.
- Greek a hundred denarii; a denarius was the usual daily wage of a day laborer
You see, kahit gaano pa kalaki yung utang nung servant, the king still forgave him. Moreover, he cancelled the debts, and RELEASED HIM.
Yun na yun, wala sayang hininging kapalit o mga kondisyon para mapatawad siya!
Akalain mo yun! Ganun ganun lang.. and yet, what did he do to his fellow servant? Just as the underlined words said.. He grabbed him, took him by the throat and when the other servant begged, what did he do? He had him thrown in prison!!!! what a guy! Ginawa ba nung master sakanya yun nung nagmakaawa siya? No! This servant did exactly the opposite of how he was treated. He was treated with goodness, and yet he treated others with cruelty. And in the end, because of his unforgiveness, ibinigay sakanya nung master what he really deserved. Nawala yung mercy.
This is the problem with us. Hindi tayo maka-let go. Hindi natin mabitawan ang mga pagkakamali ng iba sa atin. Yes, I know you've been hurt. I know masakit, mahirap, but nonetheless, God calls us to forgive.
One more thing we should remember about forgiveness is that it should be limitless.
"Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven".
- Matthew 18:21-22
Seventy times seven. Ilan ba yun? *awkward silence*.......... Haha, nevermind. Kung iisipin, ang dami di'ba? Kaloka si Lord. Pero it only means kahit ilang beses pa tayong maoffend at masaktan, what is our response? FORGIVE.
Pastor Robert Hern once said from one of his preachings that forgiveness is like a reset button on a pc when it hangs. Hindi ba kapag naghang ang pc, wala syang maprocess, at wala kang matatapos? Nandun lang siya at nakastuck. Walang nararating. We need the "reset" button so that we can make the system run again and give it a nice restart. Ganun din tayo, we need the "reset" so we could move. So we could "run" our systems once again, with a fresh restart. Intro palang lahat yun, heto palang yung topic! Hahaha :))
Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?"
Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven". Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who wanted to reconcile accounts with his servants. When he had begun to reconcile, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But because he couldn't pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, 'Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!' The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
"But that servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him, and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!'
"So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will repay you!' He would not, but went and cast him into prison, until he should pay back that which was due. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told to their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him in, and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt, because you begged me. Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?' His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds."
— Matthew 18:21-35, World English Bible
Note:
You see, kahit gaano pa kalaki yung utang nung servant, the king still forgave him. Moreover, he cancelled the debts, and RELEASED HIM.
Yun na yun, wala sayang hininging kapalit o mga kondisyon para mapatawad siya!
Akalain mo yun! Ganun ganun lang.. and yet, what did he do to his fellow servant? Just as the underlined words said.. He grabbed him, took him by the throat and when the other servant begged, what did he do? He had him thrown in prison!!!! what a guy! Ginawa ba nung master sakanya yun nung nagmakaawa siya? No! This servant did exactly the opposite of how he was treated. He was treated with goodness, and yet he treated others with cruelty. And in the end, because of his unforgiveness, ibinigay sakanya nung master what he really deserved. Nawala yung mercy.
This is the problem with us. Hindi tayo maka-let go. Hindi natin mabitawan ang mga pagkakamali ng iba sa atin. Yes, I know you've been hurt. I know masakit, mahirap, but nonetheless, God calls us to forgive.
One more thing we should remember about forgiveness is that it should be limitless.
"Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I don't tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven".
- Matthew 18:21-22
Seventy times seven. Ilan ba yun? *awkward silence*.......... Haha, nevermind. Kung iisipin, ang dami di'ba? Kaloka si Lord. Pero it only means kahit ilang beses pa tayong maoffend at masaktan, what is our response? FORGIVE.
Pastor Robert Hern once said from one of his preachings that forgiveness is like a reset button on a pc when it hangs. Hindi ba kapag naghang ang pc, wala syang maprocess, at wala kang matatapos? Nandun lang siya at nakastuck. Walang nararating. We need the "reset" button so that we can make the system run again and give it a nice restart. Ganun din tayo, we need the "reset" so we could move. So we could "run" our systems once again, with a fresh restart. Intro palang lahat yun, heto palang yung topic! Hahaha :))
First, WHY FORGIVE?!?!?!
First, WHY FORGIVE?!?!?!
Baka isa ka sa mga ngsasabi na...
"Masakit ate eh, hindi mo lang kasi alam ang ginawa niya sa akin. Bakit ko siya papatawarin??"
"Hindi pa ako ready. I'm still hurting."
Let me tell you this.. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter kung sino ang tama o mali sainyo. Sadya man niya o hindi.. What matters is that, you forgive! You let go.
Kung hindi mo parin kaya, just remember that forgiveness is NOT an emotion. It is a choice. Sometimes masakit parin, mahirap parin. It will continually hurt everytime you remember, but everytime it hurts, continually forgive the person. And when you finally decide to forgive, your emotions will soon follow.
Let's take a look kung ano nga ba ang sabi ng bible tungkol sa unforgiveness. I am not going to sugarcoat the message, I will say it as it is said on the Bible. Nabasa mo na ba yung parable sa taas? Yes, that's it. And did you notice verse 35? Yes, yun nga. If you do not forgive other people from hurting you...
"..... So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds."
Yes, that's true. I'm sorry if it is scary, but it's the Truth. That's what Jesus said. It doesn't get any more direct than that.
Second, HOW DO WE FORGIVE?
Paano nga ba magpatawad? Here are the things na kailangan nating maintindihan para matulungan tayo sa pagpapatawad:
- We owe a debt we could NEVER repay on our own efforts.
Balang araw, haharap at haharap tayo kay Lord and we will all settle an account from Him. Every word, every thought, and every action we did, we will account for those. Kung nahihirapan kang magpatawad, just think of that thought.. We owe a debt impossible to pay on our own, and that debt is SIN. We needed God's grace, and that is Christ. Just think, pause.... think of how you offended God, how you sinned and hurt Him, kung gaano kalaki ang utang natin sakanya. Imagine, lahat yun pinatawad nya, just like what the king did to the servant in the parable.. Lahat yun nadisregard, the moment we begged Him and we repented. Wow.. Hindi ka pa ba maiinlove kay Lord nyan? Hehe :)
- Forgive just as how God forgave us.
"Bear with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, Just as Christ has forgiven you." - Colossians 3:13" Be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ." - Ephesians 3:32
Paano nga ba nagforgive si God? Yung parable na nasa taas, hindi lang yun props mga te. Hehe, yun po yung example kung paano tayo inabswelto ni Lord sa mga mali natin from the past. You see, God's forgiveness is so great, it came with NO CONDITIONS! As in wala! 0% interest kumbaga. The parable said that when the King forgave the servant, he took pity on him, cancelled the debt, and let him go. Hindi naman niya sinabi na..
"Sige, papatawarin kita, pero kailangan mong gawin to, gawin yan, pumunta ka dito, tapos diyan, para complete yung pagpapatawad ko sa'yo." No. He never said that. He just forgave us, that's it. Walang kondisyon. Wow, how could we not love that kind of God, di'ba?
Let's take a look how the king forgave.
"He took pity on the servant."
Our God is never heartless. He loves us and hindi niya tayo matitiis, kapag humingi tayo ng tawad. He will look at us with eyes filled with love at kakalimutan na nya lahat ng "utang" natin Sakanya once we repent. That is how loving and merciful our God is.
"The king cancelled the debt, and LET HIM GO."
Wala na nga syang utang, pinakawalan pa siya. Hindi katulad natin kapag minsan na binabalik pa natin yung mga mali ng mga tao sa atin kapag naiinis tayo, We let them go. Ibig sabihin, hindi na natin sila itatali sa mga maling ginawa nila, hindi na tayo manunumbat, hindi na natin panghahawakan yung mga kasalanan nila sa atin. Because that is how God wants it. And that is how God forgave us.
Noon bang nagrepent tayo kay God, nilabas muna niya yung listahan ng mga kasalanan natin at kinuwenta niya muna iyon lahat? Hindi naman di'ba? He simply forgave us. That's it. At dapat ganun din tayo sa mga kapwa natin. No matter what. We just leave it all to Jesus.
Kailangan pa ba niyang magsorry para mapatawad ko siya?
No. Hindi na nila kailangang magsorry para lang mapatawad mo sila.. Minsan nga, hindi sila aware na nasaktan ka nila, laya kung ganun, paano sila magssorry di'ba? Either way, forgive. Kasi... Forgiveness is not for them, it is for you. When you forgive, it is first and foremost.. for you. Forgiving means setting someone free, and that someone is YOU. I know you're thinking of someone now, and I hope and pray you can open your heart to forgive that person, whatever he may have done to hurt you. So, are you going to let bitterness change who you are in Christ? Today, talk to God.. And pray for that person, mention his name to Him. And free yourself from hatred, pain, unforgiveness, and bitterness.
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| (Picture credits to Lauren DeMoss) |
"To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." ― C.S. Lewis
